Gifts, Etsy, and a Salute to a Veteran

Don came in the house the other day after running some errands and said “Merry Christmas!” He was carrying two boxes addressed to me. They were from Kathy and Barbara, two readers of this blog.

I needed some cheering up and who doesn’t love opening a present?

Kathy sent a lovely sympathy card with a poem that made Don and me cry. She sent an additional copy for me to send to Meredith. Kathy’s present was all about comfort food – for all three members of our family.

The Ghirardelli chocolates are almost gone. Don will polish off those Corn Nuts in no time. And Milo’s Chicken Meatballs are Scout’s favorite treat. We add them to her food because she loves them so much.

Thank you, Kathy.

Barbara sent a beautiful sympathy card and a box full of goodies.

Two books and a bookmark. I almost bought The Miniaturist when I was in NYC, but held off. So I’m excited to now have a copy. The other book I’ve not heard of, but it’s subtitled: Pride and Prejudice: The Servants’ Story, which sounds very interesting, indeed. And you know how I feel about cupcakes.

Minis! That mini canvas is fabulous and is going to go over the sofa in the TSP. There are two more record albums and a NYC sign.

Lovely tins. Don’t you want some of these in your real-life home? And a cup of coffee/tea.

A keyboard for the TSP. I discovered this keyboard online and had it bookmarked for a future purchase, but Barbara beat me to it. Love, love it.

And an adorable doggie egg cup. Actually, two of them, the other was downstairs when I took this picture.

Thank you so much, Kathy and Barbara. You brightened my day. What lovely presents!

In other news, I added my finished Obsession Scarf to the Etsy Shop, which has been on a two-year hiatus. I’m almost done with the turquoise scarf and I’ll list that, too. Since crocheting provides some comfort at the moment, I will most likely make a few more. The widget for the Etsy shop is on my sidebar.

Edited to add: Sold. Thank you! I’ll add another scarf in the next couple of days…

I’m stealing this next photo from my sister’s blog. I have a copy, too, but it’s packed away.

That’s my dad and my grandfather. Dad was a decorated veteran of WWII. Like so many at that time, he joined the Air Force when he was very young – eighteen – and served for four years. He never glorified war. He barely spoke of it when I was growing up. He wasn’t into all of the rah-rah, go get ’em, kill the bastards crap that we’ve all heard. He saw firsthand the horrors of war and he never forgot them. In his final years, he was tortured by nightmares of that time in his life. It came back to haunt him.

I admire the fact that my dad never bragged about his time in the war. Meredith and I never even knew he was decorated until we found that paperwork in my parents’ safe deposit box during my August visit to Florida. He was a gentle and kind man, my dad. But the war made a mark on him and he was forever changed by it. We think that some of what we saw in him – the tension, the nervous problems, the mood swings – may have been the result of what he went through as a very young soldier seeing things no one should ever see.

On this Veteran’s Day, I honor my dad. And I fervently hope for an end to all wars.

Claudia, I can almost see all of you smiling as you enjoy the goodies in those boxes! What a good pick me up and such sweetness from your friends. The kindness of others always makes me happy. Love the little mini’s and the dog egg cup is adorable. My Dad was a career Marine and his only real war was Vietnam. He seldom spoke of it but it also changed him. War is not a good thing. Sending you love!

My Dad was a couple of years too young to serve in WWII but served in Korea. Like your Dad, he rarely spoke about it. He was very young and a skilled mechanic and after basic training was very quickly promoted to Sgt. and sent to Korea. At the end of his tour of duty the Army offered him a promotion if he would re-enlist, but he wanted to go home & marry my Mom. Late in life he began to need to tell his stories and it would break my heart because he couldn’t talk about it without crying. War is horrible and I am so thankful for all of our Veterans who serve our country. Blessings to you, Claudia!

Lovely gifts from your friends! I personally do not know any WWII vets…but I do know Vietnam vets who simply will not discuss any part of their service over there….it’s too painful. I really wish, that as a country, we would take better care of our vets than we currently do! We owe them so much! ;)

Lovely gifts Claudia. How sweet of your friends to think of you. Like ve the piano and Beatles canvas AND the teacup. Such a cute teacup. My father, brothers, brother-in-law and husband all served in the military. Except for my father and oldest brother, none were in active war time. I’m grateful for all of the men and women who have served to give us the freedoms we enjoy each and everyday and I also honor them on this Veterans Day.
Blessings,
Betsy

Lovely gifts. I’m sure they make your heart a bit happier. My mom often talked about your dad’s time in the service. It was a horrible time for his parents and him and so many more.
I feel so sorry for our young people now. If they hit back in a fight in school to protect themselves they are expelled. Next, we take these young people and put them on the battlefield and then expect them to come home and fit right into society and forget everything they have gone through. If it were only so easy. Maybe besides the 8 weeks of basic training to get them into the mode of soldier, we need to add another 8 weeks to help them get over what they have gone through. They need far more support and gratitude than they receive now. Here’s to peace.
Eileen

Your blog frequently touches me on a personal note. My dad and uncles both served in the war. One of my uncles died at war. Like Gord they rarely talked about their service, never gloried war and were humble about their service.

I can’t even begin to imagine how going to war would change an 18 year old. Good for you for being sympathetic, kind and forgiving of your Dad.

Our parents did the best they could. Most important they were always there for us.

Love and sympathy to you.

Kay

Ps. I felt like an orphan also when both my parents died close together.

I forgot about your uncle losing his life during the war, Kay. It can’t hit any closer to the bone than that. I don’t know how anyone, let alone an 18 year old, could go through war and not be changed forever.

We had wonderful parents, Kay. I loved your mom and dad very much. And they were indeed always there for us. Bless them.

People can be so generous and it is such a wonderful trait.
Just back from traveling, I’ve been catching up with your posts and was very touched by your story of the ring…so sweet. I’m glad you are home safely again.
My father was career military, and I know he was affected by his time in war, too. I’m with you in wishing wars would come to an end…

My Dad served in the Navy in WWII and never talked about it. He was a medic on a ship. I can only imagine the horrors he saw. When our daughter graduated from college, her first job was as a MS History teacher. She taught a unit on WWII and went to spend the day w/ my Dad to get some insight. She said it was hard to get him to open up, but after a few hours he did share a few things with her. My mom had some ration books and talked about how everything was done for the war effort, and there were so many things they had to do without for years.
I think that war was different from these current conflicts/ wars we are mired in because every person had to sacrifice. Rationing affected everyone. It seems now like we have been in this current awful war for so long, that it is just part of the landscape. Except for people who have children, spouses, and /or relatives serving, there isn’t a sense of anything out of the ordinary going on. We are all numb to it, I guess. Kids who are now in from about 7th to 9th grade have never been alive when we were NOT at war. Unreal. And now it seems they want to go into even more locations.
I just don’t get it. I am so thankful for the veterans, but I am not at all sure about the outcome vs. the sacrifice of our people and their families who are serving.

What thoughtful gifts! I hope you share your thoughts on Longbourne after you have time to read it. Sounds interesting. I love a good “back story.” And thanks to all for sharing their veteran’s stories. My dad, his dad, and 7 of his 8 brothers (1 was stateside at Mare Island shipyard) served in WWII, his dad in WWI, and my brother in peace time. None of them ever talked about their experiences. I didn’t know my dad had a medal until his death either.

What wonderful gifts Claudia…you ladies are so generous…I am liking that keyboard too..so realistic…My Dad was a Veteran of WWII also…spoke very little of it…what he did enjoy telling me about was the time he served in Panama where he had a pet monkey…He loved to talk about that monkey’s antics…He tried to bring it home with him but there was too much paper work, etc. that he would have to go through…Thank goodness because I think Mom would have ended up shooting either him or the monkey…lol..

Hi Claudia
How Beautiful to receive such timely and thoughtful gifts from your
readers Kathy and Barbara! When things like this happen, it restores
my faith in my fellow human beings; people DO CARE about other people
and are willing to open their hearts to help, comfort and sustain
those who are going through tough and difficult times with simple acts
of kindness and generosity such as they have extended towards you,
Claudia. I applaud them Both!

And what a lovely tribute to your dad and your grandad on this
Memorial Day. War IS an ugly Business, begun by a “few” and
invariably involving MULTITUDES of willing and unwilling participants.
I believe that we all wear the scars of wars in some way shape or
form, since it always has a trickle down effect.
Soldiering is an emotionally [as well as physically], difficult job to do, knowing full well that there may be no future for you when you march off to war and/or no future for you if
you don’t.
Still, there will never will be World Peace as long as there are
ruthlessly ambitious people on this earth. Every generation proves
this out. Which is why Christ said that HIS peace was the only kind
of any REAL value. It’s not the temporary peace that the
world knows, but instead it’s the Everlasting Peace between God and Us, made visible in the hearts of people by how they treat each other. And if you have THAT, then the peace between men of all nations is achievable.
As the angels sang on the night when Christ was born-
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth –
Peace and Good Will towards men”

What nice presents you received! I love the keyboard. My father also served in WWII. He passed away from a sudden heart attack at a young age when we three siblings were just kids. My father’s brothers and sisters described a different person when they talked about our dad. The father we knew was always quiet with some dark moods. The young man they described was outgoing, fun-loving with a sunny disposition –not the father we knew. So sad that we never knew that side of him. He never spoke of the war to us. I really appreciate our veterans and what they went through. Thanks, Claudia, for giving us another thoughtful post.

Claudia, Nice gifts from good blog family …hope it does help . Thanks to your father who served. Some men never speak of their service time and some have too. We love them all. Hope you and Don are enjoying some outdoor time…We are to have nasty weather coming in tonight. Last night brought frost. Hugs to you, xoxo,Susie

My uncle saw the worst of the worst in WWII…he was in the D-Day invasion and also the Battle of the Bulge, trained for desert warfare but ended up in Europe and almost froze to death in snow and ice. He never, ever spoke of the war. Never. He was in from the beginning to the end, in early conscription; Army. He didn’t see his child born and never got an opportunity to really know his son til the kid was in kindergarten. My uncle was a wonderful man…a kind, gentle, loving and generous soul…but he developed a lifelong and devastating gambling addiction after the war, which we wondered was perhaps some sort of coping mechanism but, who knows. Back then, everybody somehow expected these men and women of war to come back and take up from where they left off; be their ‘normal’ selves. Nowadays, we know about post traumatic stress/shock. I understand that many soldiers developed drinking problems. My brother-in-law to this day cannot be around fireworks; he was in Viet Nam, two tours, as a scout, deep in the jungles; extremely dangerous work. He was home on leave at one point, his parents’ cat jumped up on the bed while he was sleeping and he bounded up with sudden wakefulness due to the cat walking on him, totally in defensive fight-mode and nearly killing the cat in the process before he was fully awake or even knew what he was doing.

I feel so badly that men and women, both soldiers and civilians, have to endure the horror of war. Unlike your dad, mine was in for 3 years in the 40s; however, he kept getting held back to train other men so he actually never, miraculously, saw combat although he was prepared for it at any time and was based in Hawaii, ready to ship out to battlefronts in the South Pacific (his specialty was cave fighting, he was an expert marksman and part of an elite tank-destroyer unit). My flag is out today for him and all of our veterans. And I never forget the medics and nurses. Thanks to all of these brave people, I’ve never had to endure an invading force, robbing me of my freedoms.

By the way, your father was VERY handsome.

Your scarf is so beautiful, Claudia. How talented you are , that you know how to do something like that! You are truly craft-y.

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband and dog. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating. My decorating style is eclectic but if I had to call it anything, I'd call it Christmas in Connecticut, after all those forties movies with comfy cottage style.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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